News
2005-10-13
Indiana teenagers
burn rainbow flag
Two Bloomington,
Ind., teenagers stole and burned a rainbow-colored
American flag representing gays and lesbians that was
displayed outs
Two Bloomington,
Ind., teenagers stole and burned a rainbow-colored
American flag representing gays and lesbians that was
displayed outside a store, police said. The
17-year-old boys took the flag from outside David
Wade's culinary supply store, Inner Chef, according to
police. Wade said the flag, called the "New Glory,"
shows that all Americans are welcome at his business.
A witness saw the
boys take the flag and took a picture of their license
plate with a cell phone camera. Police later tracked the
plate and questioned the boys, who said they burned
the flag because they felt it was "unpatriotic,"
police reports said. The boys were referred to
juvenile court on preliminary charges of theft. "I just wish
they would've come in and talked to me about it," Wade
said. "I didn't know if it was a prank, an American
flag issue, or a gay issue. Any of them could've just
come inside and had a conversation about it."
Beverly
Calender-Anderson, director of Bloomington's Safe and
Civil City Program, said if there is a suspicion that
the flag burning was a hate crime, the incident would
be reported to the Human Rights Commission. "We
do value and honor the diversity in our city and do
not condone discrimination or any kind of acts against
people because of their sexual orientation, gender,
race, class, or anything else," she said.
Wade said he
would replace the flag. (AP)
Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter.
Page 1 of 1